


Reset

by Dellefox



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst with a Happy Ending, DPOD Drabble Night, Developing Relationship, Idiots in Love, M/M, Prideshipping, Restarting relationship, Yami Yuugi | Atem Has His Own Body, altered character ages, gratuitious amounts of chess, past relationship, spot the Star Trek reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 15:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30023742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dellefox/pseuds/Dellefox
Summary: They'd crossed a line. It was late and they were tired. But people grow and heal, and sometimes fate gifts a second chance. Prideshipping. AU. For DPOD Drabble Night. Prompts: Chess, Intoxication.
Relationships: Atem/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi, Kaiba Seto/Yami Yuugi | Atem
Comments: 12
Kudos: 16
Collections: Dark Pride of Dimensions Drabble Night Collection





	Reset

**Author's Note:**

> I have returned from the void ~~and certainly do not have writer's block with 10/27~~
> 
> This angsty little nugget is for the first DPOD Drabble night! Prompts were Chess and Intoxication. 
> 
> This will eventually be part of And It All Began with You, once I get to that point in the timeline. ^_^ 
> 
> Word Count: Dark Magician  
> Ages:  
> Seto - 21  
> Atem - 20

_Late August, 2002_

_We need to talk about last week._

Atem let out a sigh and stared at the message on his phone.

‘Last week’ was a very long day in which Seto got pulled into a work emergency and the store got slammed thanks to Pegasus’ newest expansion release for Duel Monsters on the same day preorders opened up for the next generation of Duel Disk. Mai and Cyndia were out of town, which meant poor Mokuba was stuck at the game shop until nearly ten. At the end of the day, caught off guard and both exhausted, they found themselves in each other’s arms exchanging gentle kisses as if the last three years had never happened.

For Mokuba’s sake, once the dust had cleared post-breakup, they’d handled things like divorced parents, keeping each other informed of schedules and dividing childminding duties accordingly. With Mai’s dueling career taking off, her nanny job was no longer full-time, though she was still a very important mother figure in the younger Kaiba’s life.

In the last year, the work Seto had been putting into himself had started to pay off. The icy glare was softening into a more determined, focused expression. He began to smile more. His demeanor began to warm ever so slightly. He was still a force to be reckoned with in the boardroom but he was slowly learning when to let his temper out, and Atem was sure he’d always have a horrifically dark, sarcastic sense of humor. But the Seto that Atem could see hiding behind hurt, untrusting walls was slowly starting to emerge as he discovered his own potential. This Seto was strong, and more quietly confident, and finally beginning to stabilize.

Lately Atem had been having what he’d been calling “relapses” regarding his feelings for Seto. He blamed it on their strengthening friendship. He’d been fighting them off successfully until their impromptu makeout session on that late night. He grabbed his phone irritably.

_What is there to talk about?_ He texted. _We kissed. We slipped up. As long as we don’t do it again we should be fine._

Seto’s response was nearly instantaneous, a very out of character move for him given his tight work and life schedule.

_Bullshit. They meant something and you know it. Come over._

Once, long ago, the words would have sent him into orbit, joyful butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Long ago, those words would have meant lazy weekends spent in Seto’s bedroom, of curling up in front of the fireplace while Seto worked and Mokuba played Pokémon, Metallica in the background.

Now it was forbidden territory, something not only out of his reach but now something that felt wholly inappropriate, given their turbulent history. His phone beeped once more.

_Mokuba is staying over a friend’s house and Mai is out of town with Cyndia. We’ll have privacy._

Atem took a deep breath and grabbed his keys. There was no skirting around this.

_I’m on my way._

The Kaiba mansion felt more imposing than usual, thanks to heightened nerves and a sense of dread. Atem allowed himself no positive expectations. It was too risky.

He let himself in at Seto’s request, and found a chess board set up in the game room by the bar.

“Hey,” said a smooth voice behind him.

Seto leaned into the doorway. Atem chided himself for admiring how good he looked. His tall, lean figure was clad in a navy blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up and simple black slacks.

“Hey.” He gestured to the table. “What’s all this?”

“It’s more fun to play when you’re my opponent.” He guided Atem to a chair.

“I thought you wanted to talk,” he said.

“We can talk and play at the same time.” Seto cracked his knuckles and sat across from him. “I thought it might relax us a bit.”

“You missed beating me at something, didn’t you?” Atem teased.

“I’m rebuilding my deck with the new expansion-“

“Yeah, yeah, and with your new cards you’ll finally be unstoppable. If I had a dime for every time you recited that speech in the last eight years I’d be worth even more than you.” He smirked. “Make your move, Kaiba.”

Seto moved a pawn from E2 to E4. Atem moved a pawn from E7 to E5. Seto moved a second pawn from F2 to F4. Atem grabbed the pawn he’d just moved and knocked out the white pawn on F4 with more force than intended. He snatched it up before Seto could see his hand shaking.

…or so he thought.

“You need a drink.”

Atem dropped the pawn, and it clattered onto the board and began to roll, Atem thanking the universe it didn’t knock over any pieces on its way to the floor.

“I do not.” He scrambled to pick up the pawn and place it next to the board.

“I can feel the anxiety radiating from you.” Seto’s Knight moved from G1 to F3. Atem tensed up further.

“That’s not a healthy coping mechanism, Seto.” Pawn from G7 to G5.

“I’m not trying to get you shit-faced. There’s something to be said for the concept of liquid courage.” H2 pawn to H4.

Atem sighed. There was no getting out of this now, and to try would make him no better than Seto had been back when things went south. But the thought of even opening up about this, despite the openness Seto was finally showing, was terrifying. There was no denying the sweet, caramel-tinted burn of whisky would temporarily put them at rest and allow him to think and speak.

Seto got up and headed to the bar while Atem slid a pawn from G5 to G4.

“So we made out in the game shop. We were tired. It was a bad day for both of us.”

“It was.” Seto slid spheres of ice into two lowball glasses with practiced ease. “Knight to E5.”

Atem slid the polished white piece to the requested square on the board, and moved one of his pieces to counter. “Knight to F6.” He paused. “Do you regret it?” he finally asked.

Seto pored over his expansive collection of whisky and selected the Dalmore. “Knight to G4. If I regretted it would I be here plying you with expensive liquor?”

Atem picked up his defeated pawn and placed it along Seto’s side of the board. “I suppose not. Knight to E4.” He placed the claimed piece next to the first pawn.

Seto placed a half-filled glass in front of him, ice gleaming brightly and reflecting the ceiling lights. “Do you?” he asked. He swirled the whiskey around in his own glass before moving a pawn to D3.

Atem stared at the board, nerves fraying at the ends. “I don’t, but…” he trailed off. Knight to G3.

Seto raised an eyebrow. “But what?” Bishop to F4. One more pawn conquered.

“But I don’t know if it was the right thing to do,” he said carefully. Knight to H1.

“It felt right to me,” Seto said. “And I think it did to you too. I still recognize that tone of voice. It’s the voice you use when you’re trying to make an excuse to avoid something.” King to E2.

“Seto…”

“It was perfect, Atem. Neither one of us even _thought_ before we did it-“

“That doesn’t mean we _should_ have done it, Seto. We can’t…” he stopped. King to E7.

“Atem-“

“We don’t work, Seto. We know this.”

“What happened to ‘I want you to heal before we revisit this?’” Seto shot back. “I wasn’t aware you’d decided to close and lock the door on it.” Knight to F6.

“That was a long time ago, Seto. I was young and foolish.” Queen to D8.

“We were different people back then. I bit off more than I could chew and I got overwhelmed by it all. You’ve known that for awhile. Neither one of us were centered. We were too young to be.” Bishop to C7 to take the pawn.

_We were too young._

How _could_ they give it their all, when they didn’t even have a grasp of who they were individually? And how does one reach the point where they feel secure in who they are, when their feet finally touch the ground and they can walk with confidence, with pride? 

They couldn’t. Because it was too much. Too overwhelming. This thing between them, this intense, fiery, tumultuous thing…it was so much bigger than they were. It had quickly grown out of control, like a lit cigarette tossed into a field of dry grass and left to smolder until it finally gathered enough oxygen to burst into flames and grow into a raging inferno that neither one of them could safely get near to extinguish. They were only teens. Still in high school. Still trying to figure out who they were, trying to play grown-ups when they still felt like children. They had no idea what they were doing. There was no way to know. 

Seto couldn’t handle the momentum of it all, especially with a company in transition and a massive amount of trauma from his childhood to contend with. It had all been too much and he was crumbling under the weight of it. Atem had tried to carry it, but he couldn’t shoulder it alone. He had his own issues too.

They both knew this now. They’d hashed all of that out as Seto slowly gathered himself, decompressed, and worked his way through intense therapy.

Atem realized it would require him to reciprocate the vulnerability being shown to him now. It felt so weird now, the tables turned, Atem wanting to run at the first sign of intimacy instead of Seto. He was finally starting to understand a small part of why Seto had kept his distance. It was downright _mortifying_ , baring one’s soul in such a manner. He moved his queen to C7, took Seto’s bishop, and knocked back the rest of his drink in one go. It felt like the walls were closing in.

“Talk to me, Imzadi.” Knight to D5.

A dagger of emotions speared Atem’s chest. _Imzadi._ They’d never stopped calling each other that, even after they’d broken up. After all, if Troi and Riker could continue to use that term of endearment on the Enterprise years later, why couldn’t they? But Atem knew that tonight, Seto didn’t mean it platonically, and, he realized, that he probably hadn’t in awhile.

_Beloved._ Wasn’t that the deepest meaning of the word, even when used outside of romance? He slid his queen back to D8.

“It didn’t _feel_ wrong,” he heard himself say. He could feel the effects of the alcohol finally take hold.

“Then why say that we shouldn’t have? You’re contradicting yourself.” Knight to E7 to take the queen.

“Seto-“

“We’re older, now, and wiser. We aren’t who we were in our teenage years.”

“Just because it didn’t _feel_ wrong doesn’t mean it was right!” Atem exclaimed. It isn’t always black and white!” Bishop to E7 to take the knight.

“Why can’t it be?” Seto shot back. “You seem hellbent on creating a gray area to keep yourself at a distance.” King to G4.

“Things just don’t _work_ that way, Seto!” Atem yelled, frustrated. He hadn’t meant to raise his voice. Maybe it was the whiskey. Maybe it was emotions and thoughts he’d largely ignored for the last several months. Maybe it was both. Pawn to D6. Seto whisked away Atem’s empty glass and headed back to the bar for a refill.

“You’re brushing everything I’ve said aside because you’re stuck in the past,” he shot back. “King to F4.”

“Seto, _listen to yourself_! You’re the one who always said to forget the past and that the only direction worth going was forward, but here we are, talking about going back and _re-living_ it!”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do!” Seto shouted. “I’m trying to fix this! We clearly can’t continue platonically and it’s obvious neither of us _want_ to anymore. I don’t have any business asking for this, but the only other alternative is one that I can’t even bear to think about because _I want you in my life, Atem._ I _miss_ you. Mokuba misses you. I want us to be a family.” 

Silence descended upon the room like a thick, rolling fog.

“And what if we don’t work again?” Atem whispered. The fear was back with a vengeance.

“Then we can truly say that we gave it everything we had, and have no regrets at the end, and we go back to co-parenting Mokuba. But I don’t think it will turn out that way.”

He returned to the table, glasses refilled, and handed Atem’s glass back to him. He drained half of it in seconds and pushed a rook to G8. “I’m not used to optimism coming from you,” he murmured.

“And I’m not used to pessimism coming from you.” It was Seto’s turn to down his drink. “You’ve been right this entire time. We needed time apart to grow.” King to F7 to take the pawn.

“Seto…“

“The more I work on myself and the more I think about this the more I think we deserve a second chance. I can give you more now than I could back then. I can give you _all of me_ now.” Seto’s blue eyes were burning brightly with a fierceness Atem rarely saw outside of dueling.

“So we just…start over?” Bishop to H4 to take the pawn.

“We start over. Clean slate. We can’t – we should _not -_ pick up where we left off.” Queen to D2. _“_ We go forward with more weapons in our arsenal now, as a team, the way it should have been from the start.”

Silence settled back into the room again, neither knowing quite what to say or do next. Atem fought the urge to run, but also found his feet firmly rooted to the carpet, unable to move even if he wanted them to. So he sat, staring at the board, feeling Seto’s gaze burning into him. They were so painfully close at the small table.

“It’s your move, Imzadi.”

Atem was keenly aware of the double meaning of that statement. Never one to be outdone, he found himself at a loss for both chess game and response. Seto was, essentially, handing him everything he’d wanted so dearly, served on a silver platter. There was no sense in lying to himself about it anymore. He’d spent the last two and a half years kicking at the sticks of it, dutifully trying to break deeply-rooted feelings and thought patterns and move on with this life the way nearly everyone around him told him to, following instructions to the letter, waiting and waiting for the day when he would wake up and he would finally be okay without Seto, when he wouldn’t be so hung up on him that he could perhaps enjoy being single, or maybe even find someone else. But that day had yet to arrive, and he didn’t want it to. There was a sense of fundamental _wrongness_ to the idea of someone else, anyone else. Even now, despite the distance they’d kept and the months that had passed since he’d last visited the mansion, it felt like home. He was tired of fighting it. 

“Okay.”

He slid his rook to E8. Seto’s hand landed upon his and gently picked it up. He closed his eyes and felt soft lips gently kiss each finger. Knight to A3.

Seto let go of Atem’s hand so he could move. Knight to A6.

“It’s going to be better this time, Atem. I promise.” King to H5.

“I know.” Bishop to F6.

“We can take it a day at a time. Small steps.” King to H1.

He studied the board carefully and realized he’d made a fatal mistake. Seto’s king was free to move about the board and his defenses were sorely lacking. It was a habit he’d developed years ago, before they’d ever started dating, and he could never seem to shake it, no matter how much he changed his strategy.

“…shit.”

A predatory grin crossed Seto’s face. “You did it again.”

“I’m aware, thank you,” Atem said tersely. In an attempt to salvage his side of the board he slid a bishop to B2 to take Seto’s pawn.

“That won’t save you,” Seto said. “I have you right where I want you.” King to H4.

“Maybe I went willingly into your trap.” Queen to D7. Atem felt something break and crumble away inside of him, and his vision of the board became blurry as his eyes welled up. He blinked them away. “I’m…I’m sorry I walked away from us, Seto.”

“You did what you had to do, and I’m sorry I pushed you to make that choice.” Rook to B1. He reached across the table and wiped away the wet tracks spilling down Atem’s face.

In a final, futile effort, a bishop went to A3 and took Seto’s Knight. Seto rose from the table, long elegant fingers sliding his king to A4. He knelt beside Atem and pulled him close. 

“Checkmate.”

His lips met Atem’s in a deep, languid kiss, the syrupy aftertaste of whiskey still on their tongues. They forgot to breathe. They didn’t care. The tasted each other until the need for air pulled them apart. Seto wounds his fingers through Atem’s messy blonde hair, gently pulling at scalp. Atem pressed their foreheads together.

“I love you,” he breathed.

“I love you too,” Seto replied.

_It will be better this time._

**Author's Note:**

> Chess nerds may recognize this as the Morphy Vs. Anderssen match from 1858. Many thanks to RookSacrifice for inspiring me to look that one up. ^_^ It fit perfectly.  
> Writing this was difficult but fun. I'm finally figuring out how to write their stubbornness as they talk around each other in circles because they're too damn stubborn to do anything else xD 
> 
> There will be an expansion on the game shop incident at some point. 
> 
> Chapter 3 of '10/27' is on the way I promise
> 
> As per usual, comments and kudos are always appreciated! <3


End file.
